London, 18 June 1997 (RFE/RL) -- The London-based human rights organization Amnesty International today released its annual report assessing the state of human rights around the world. The report is critical of several former Soviet Bloc countries.

The report's European regional summary focuses on alleged human rights violations in several countries of the Balkans and the Caucasus. The former Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria are cited for widespread ill treatment of ethnic minorities. It says police have mistreated civilians in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.

Amnesty International recorded thousands of disappearances in Bosnia in recent years. The organization believes many of those who disappeared were killed.

The report cites Georgia for failing to provide fair trials for political prisoners and for prohibiting the return of 200,000 ethnic Georgians on the grounds of their ethnicity or suspected political sympathies.

The report also details allegations of torture, ill-treatment, rape and poor prison conditions in Russia.